RESUMEN
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin administration on amiodarone-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats
Materials and Methods:Thirty-six male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. The control group [CTL] received distilled water [0.3 ml intratracheally on days 0 and 2 and 0.5 ml orally from day 0 for 3 weeks]. The atorvastatin group [AT], in addition to intratracheal distilled water, received 1 mg/kg of atorvastatin orally from day 0 for 3 weeks. The amiodarone group [AMI] received 2 intratracheal instillations of amiodarone [6.25 mg/ kg in 0.3 ml of water] on days 0 and 2 and 0.5 ml of distilled water [like the CTL]. The amiodarone plus atorvastatin group [AMI + AT] received both these drugs [same doses and methods as for the AMI and AT]. After 28 days, the rate of lung fibrosis was estimated according to pathological criteria of lung sections and measurements of hydroxyproline in pieces of left lung tissue
Results:The lung hydroxyproline content was higher in the treated groups [CTL: 0.35 +/- 0.017, AT: 0.38 +/- 0.012, AMI: 0.375 +/- 0.018 and AMI + AT: 0.38 +/- 0.012 unit/mg protein], but did not reach significance when com- pared with the CTL [p = 0.56]. Amiodarone administration significantly increased the score of pulmonary fibrosis [0.5] in comparison with the AT [0.125] and CTL [0] [p < 0.5]. The combination of amiodarone and atorvastatin exacerbated the pulmonary fibrosis [1.5; p < 0.01] compared to the AMI [0.5; p < 0.001], AT [0.125] and CTL [0]
Conclusion:In this study, the concomitant administration of amiodarone and atorvastatin increased pulmonary fibrosis in rats